Hello!
Nothing to say this time. Disclaimer in the first 3 chapters. Also, I just realized Naruto x Lumine was also a possible ship so might think about that as a workable ship. Anyways, I uploaded the first chapter for the Naruto x HSR fanfic I was planning on making and you guys gave me a lot of support on that! The pairing for that will be Naruto x -, because I have a plan to work it into the story. Anyways, hope you enjoy!
"So, Master Diluc, why did you call us here? Is there any news about Dvalin?" Venti was as carefree as always. Everyone was back at Dawn Winery after a week, and awaiting news about the situation. All of them were here for the same, although Lumine and Jean were giving subtle glares at Naruto, much to the ire of Diluc. While Lumine was still salty about Naruto just ditching her in Dragonspine, Jean was salty about the prank he pulled on her yesterday, by piling her whole office full of snow. The Acting Grand Master was currently wondering how the blond managed to transport that much snow without the snow melting or getting caught. Naruto may have changed, but he will always be a prankster at heart.
"There is actually." Naruto's words drew everyone's attention. "From what I managed to find out, he is currently resting somewhere in the old ruins just north of Wolvendom. It is also apparently covered by some kind of Anemo barrier that prevents people from going in. I tried scouting the area but failed because I couldn't get in there." At his words, Venti seemed to be lost in thought while the others seemed surprised at how the blond knew that much after disappearing for two days. He also had a new outfit, featuring a pair of black pants, with their ends tucked and taped into black combat boots. The shirt was replaced by a black vest and grey body armor, which left his shoulders uncovered. On his hands he was wearing a pair of gloves with metal plates on the back of his hands that reached halfway up his biceps, held in place by bandages. He was also wearing a red coat with black flames at the bottom and a black headband. A fox mask was clipped on to his belt (Anbu outfit with sage coat).
"Well done, Naruto. It isn't easy to get information on the abyss order because of their mysterious nature." At his adoptive father's praise, Naruto sheepishly rubbed his neck with a smile. "That said, we also need to know about the movements of the fatui to avoid any, nasty surprises. Any ideas?"
"Actually, I asked Kaeya and Lisa to make a fake copy of the holy lyre to throw them off." Jean answered. "That should buy us some time until they realize that it's a fake and decide to put any diplomatic pressure on us, by which time, we should have stopped the Dvalin problem.
"Wait a minute!" Paimon's voice broke everyone out of their thoughts. "Why does the Big Anemo God Barbatos even need the help of mere humans?"
Naruto blinked at the question. "Did Yapping Fly just ask a genuinely good question?" The words caused the fair to stomp her feet in the air. She was about to retort but Venti interrupted her.
"To answer your question Paimon, the Seven Archons that preside over the seven elements, also preside over their own part of Teyvat. Only by fulfilling this duty to a certain degree, can we attain power. But, I don't particularly like the idea of 'ruling' Mondstadt, and I doubt that Mondstadt would like it either."
"'Go forth and establish a city of freedom without rule.' We haven't forgotten Barbatos' wish for Mondstadt." Jean said with pride while Diluc nodded along.
"Jean, you're such a devotee!" Paimon said with a smile. "But maybe someone got a little too free and is just too lazy to care."
"Damn Lumine, your fairy woke up and chose violence today." Naruto whispered to his fellow blonde, who just snickered.
"Ahh… Well, I haven't been to Mondstadt for a while now. So without a doubt, I am currently the weakest among the seven!" For being the weakest of the seven, Venti sounded proud of it.
When Lumine pointed it out, the bard just responded with "Aww! You flatter me!" (A/N: Idk about you but it feels like Venti and Zhongli are hiding something)
"Oh such a humble god we have." Diluc's almost mocking tone made Naruto snicker. "Anyways, we have noticed some strange abyss mages in the vicinity of the winery. They might have something to do with Dvalin."
"Then let's go check it out!" Without another word, Venti rushed out of the winery before realizing he has no idea where he is going. With a sigh, Diluc pointed in the right direction and they left to kill the abyss mages.
Two abyss mages, one Cryo, and the other Hydro, were just chilling near the ruins of old Mondstadt. They were tasked by the abyss order to protect the entrance to the ruins of old Mondstadt, an easy task for them really. Cryo and Hydro go quite well together.
Alas, when the flat of a claymore hit the face of the Cryo abyss mage and broke its shield, they were surprised. Soon enough, another claymore hit the other abyss mage and broke its shield. Both Naruto and Diluc ran towards the downed mages and killed them with an elemental spin attack. They quickly joined up with the others after making sure that there were no other monsters.
"Huh. That was something." The bard's contemplative words caught the others' attention. "I just felt an energy leave the bodies of the abyss mages. I can actually read the energy signature of the barrier now! I mean it sounds worse than a choir of hillichurls, but with this, I can break it!"
"So we are going to confront Dvalin then?" At Venti's nod, Diluc continued. "While I am fine with direct confrontation, I can't speak for Jean." At Diluc's words, Jean was quick to answer.
"No. When there are no other options left, we must alter our course of action. If killing Dvalin is our only choice, I'll gladly take the lead."
"Hopefully, it won't come to that. The holy lyre wasn't our trump card after all." Venti quickly changed the subject from killing, to saving Dvalin. "What I mean is that the Honorary Knight here is our trump card. After all, the power corrupting both the tear drop and Dvalin are both one and the same." Was Venti's answer when Jean questioned him on what he meant.
"This is a crazy idea you Tone Deaf Bard!" Paimon looked like the only mad one, even as the others, including Lumine apparently, seemed ho have agreed wholeheartedly. "Oh~ so she just has to fight a lot of abyss monsters and a GIANT DRAGON! No pressure!"
"Don't worry Paimon! I'm sure that the honorary knight will do great!" Naruto said while giving Lumine a pat on the back, making sure to touch the part covered by her dress. "Besides, she always has us, right Lumine?"
After some back and forth banter between the fairy and the blond, they finally make their way to Dvalin's lair. Meanwhile, Naruto was spacing out while he was in his mind, talking with its residents.
"Why did you do that son?" Minato asked Naruto.
"I did it because I made a promise to Aether. That, and I feel something. " Naruto was interrupted by Kushina, who looked strangely exited at what he said.
"Oh~ Does my little boy have a crush on her?~" Kushina asked like a typical mother.
"No I don't mom, and she's my best friend's sister! I can't date her! And if I did, Aether would probably kill me. Also, I'm not little anymore. Anyway, as I was saying, I have a bad feeling about something, so I took some precautions. It's better to be safe than sorry after all." Naruto's answer silenced Kushina, but also caught everyone's attention. His gut feelings in this place were strangely accurate in this world for some reason, so if he felt something was about to happen in the next few minutes, it probably will.
"Will you need my help Naruto?" Kurama's voice drew the blond's gaze upwards. "Also, will you use my power if you need it, or prioritize your identity?"
"I'll use your power if push comes to shove. My rinnegan and sage mode should be enough, but it is a good idea to have it ready just in case. I feel like my abilities will be revealed quite soon. Father Diluc and Uncle Kaeya will try to defend me if something happens, but I'd rather not burden them with anything."
"Ok then. If you need my chakra, just say it." With a smile, Naruto raised his fist up to the fox, who raised his own fist with a smile.
Near the barrier, Naruto was jolted by a snap near his face. Looking ahead, he saw Lumine's face staring at him with a deadpan expression. "You ok Lumine?" In response, she just pointed behind him. Turning around, Naruto surprised by the sight of a mob of monsters running towards them. He was sure they would've been stationed a bit further away from the barrier. "That's a nasty surprise. Well, I'm not waiting here for them to leave."
Naruto raised his hand, summoning a solid black shakujou instead of the executioner's blade. Twirling it around, he ran toward his enemies and threw the staff at the nearest mitachurl, who went down with a roar. Dodging a hit from a stray hillichurl, he kicked toward an abyss mage and grabbed an arrow shot by a hillichurl shooter and threw it towards another abyss mage, breaking it's shield and stunning it. Feeling some energy around him, Naruto jumped up to avoid the streams of fire from a pyro abyss mage and the ice from that earlier abyss mage before activating his rinnegan, teleporting to his shakujou, kicking it up to his hand and letting loose a pulse of chakra that pushed all the monsters away from him. Turning to face the others, careless of his rinnegan being out in the open, Naruto dismissed his shakujou and shouted at the stunned group. "Are you guys joining in or what?"
At his words, they shook their heads were about to join in, but an anemo infused arrow from Venti flew past them. Seeing this, Naruto quickly turned around and pulled the enemies into a tight group with his rinnegan and appeared behind Lumine with his hand almost on her back before he quickly withdrew it and deactivated his rinnegan, returning his eyes to their normal blue hue. Looking at the enemies, he saw a black orb of condensed Anemo energy dragging in the monsters and slashing at them with even more Anemo energy. As one, everyone turned towards Venti who was holding a blue and gold bow at his side. Noticing the eyes on him, Venti dismissed his bow and gave a them a smile. "Ehe~" The bard's actions also caused the group to conveniently forget about Naruto's strange eyes.
"Anyway, since that's done, I'll break the barrier. Then, we can go and confront Dvalin and put an end to his pain once and for all." With that, Venti took out the holy lyre and, with a few strums, broke the barrier. "Come on!" The bard ran inside, followed by the others, to free his dragon friend. After killing some stray monsters that were scattered on the bridge leading to the center, they finally reach the tower of old Mondstadt, but upon reaching it, they noticed that it was also surrounded by a wind barrier. "Huh. This barrier is maintained by Dvailn's power, so I can't break it. We'll have to find another way to get to the top."
"Over there! There's a hole in the roof! We can get in through there!" Paimon shouted from above. The little travel guide had flown up and scanned the old tower for any way to get inside and she had clearly found one. "There is a path leading up there. There are a lot of hillichurl archers on that path though." She shouted before flying back down.
"Good job Paimon!" Naruto praised the fairy with a smile. "As for the hillichurls, I think we can handle them. Right?" At his words, Jean, Diluc and Lumine looked at him and nodded with a smile. They could easily take a few monsters. While this was going on, Venti was deep in thought.
"Wait a minute. If I'm correct, there should be another seal on Dvalin's lair." At Venti's words, Naruto activated his rinnegan and masked it along with his, now dormant, vision with a genjutsu. Looking at the tower, Naruto could see four levels of energy, one connected somewhere the inside and the others connected to some things on outside. Pumping some chakra to his legs, Naruto jumped onto the arch in front of him and focused even more. He noticed with satisfaction that the light actuators used to control the barriers had their components put near them and guarded by some hillichurls.
'The abyss mages I sent did their job quite well.' With that thought, the blond deactivated his rinnegan and jumped off the arch and used a gust of anemo to cushion his fall. "Well, there were 4 halos circling the tower. 3 of them looked like they were connected somethings on the ground and 1 was connected to something at the top of the tower." Naruto turned back to the others. "How about this? I'll disable the seals on the ground and you guys disable the one on the tower. How does that sound?"
"How did you even know the corresponding parts of the seal were connected to something on the ground?" Jean asked cautiously. Afterall, Naruto could be quite suspicious sometimes.
"Elemental sight." Was his simple answer. Of course, in reality, it won't be able to see that far, but because he was known for his innovative applications of Anemo, it could be trusted.
After some back and forth, Naruto got the others to agree to his plan and, after secretly passing a Hiraishin kunai to Diluc, watched as they ran towards the top of the tower. After they were out of sight, he put on the fox mask and looked around with his rinnegan and located the first light actuator. Throwing a Hiraishin kunai, he jumped off the bridge and prepares to use the Deva path to slow down his fall. Feeling a pulse of chakra, Naruto activated the jutsu and arrived at the first light actuator. Looking around, he spotted the three components just lying close by. Collecting the floating prisms, he walked up to the device and got ready to place them inside, only for some hostile enemies to appear. Summoning the executioner's blade, Naruto threw it at a Pyro abyss mage, breaking its shield, and kicked a Dendro samachurl in the head, breaking it'd mask and killing it, before quickly jumping away from a Pyro blast by the abyss mage. Looking at the dancing mage, Naruto threw a kunai at its head, killing it and punched the Anemo samachurl that just appeared. Looking around and spotting no one, he places the light prisms on the actuators and activates the device. Looking at the tower, he sees one of the halos disappear. With a smirk, he picks up the sword and seals it way in the storage seal on the back of his right shoulder
Meanwhile, the others who are still running up to the top, see one of the halos disappear and assume that Naruto managed to remove one of the seals. Seeing some archer along the way, Venti summons the winds to fly up and sends 3 Anemo infused arrows at the monsters, killing them instantly, before floating back down.
Arriving at the second actuator, Naruto finds one of the prisms near a pillar, in one of the ruins nearby. After climbing the it, jumping down into the Anemo barrier and picking up the prism, he looks around and sees a small monster camp and with another prism. Taking out a normal kunai, he places a Hiraishin seal and an explosive tag on it and throws it at the monsters. After the explosion, Naruto teleports to the kunai in the smoke and kills the monsters. Often times, any of the 'churls just take residence wherever they are dropped. This makes them a helpful way to secure areas for both the lesser and greater abyss orders. Just get some abyss mages to summon some of them to the area and done. Collecting the prism, Naruto feels the energy of the last one behind a pile of rocks. Destroying the rocks, Naruto places them in the device and watch as another of the halos disappear.
Locating the last light actuator, Naruto sees that 2 of the light prisms are on 2 pillars near the ruins and the last one near the device itself, which he placed in said device. Pumping some chakra to his legs, he jumps up to one of the pillars and runs up to the top, before grabbing the prism and launching himself towards the other pillar. Landing on it, Naruto grabbed the last prism before jumping into a wind current and pulling out a wind glider. Floating back to the actuator, Naruto activates it and looks up at the tower, only to hear a roar and see everyone get flung out in a gust of wind.
"Ok, it's done. So now we wait for Naruto to activate the last one?" Lumine asked Venti. While she felt bad for leaving Naruto behind, she knew that this was the best option if they wanted things done fast. Hearing a small explosion, they all look down and see Naruto, in his new clothes and wearing a fox mask, killing some monsters and holding a light prism. While Lumine still felt slightly uneasy around him, she would easily say that she'd trust him to guard her back. "Anyway, what will happen once he activates the last actuator?"
"Well, in the best case scenario, nothing will happen until we provoke Dvalin, but in the worst case, we'll be sent flying." Vent said as casually as ever. He knew that his friend didn't like intruders and with the curse amping up his negative emotions, there was no saying what he might do. "Anyway, in case the latter is what happens, you have me~" The others weren't convinced.
A few minutes later, right on cue, the last barrier fell and they were sent flying high into the air. Venti quickly took control of the winds as soon as the group pulled out their gliders and sent them higher. Looking ahead, they see the dragon looking for them. "Traveller! Aim for the spikes! Just like you did back at Mondstadt!" Giving a nod to the bard, Lumine aims at the spikes and sent a torrent of Anemo bolts towards the dragon. However, unlike the last time, the dragon retaliates by using Anemo energy to send out a barrage of elemental projectiles. Venti controls the winds for them to dodge most of the blasts, but some still find their mark. Some of the projectiles even started curving towards their marks, which they avoided by folding in their gliders when they came close. "Traveller! Aim for that glowing orb to the right!" Looking slightly to the right, Lumine aimed at the projectile, which created a circle of Anemo energy that pushed the gang towards the dragon. By now the dragon was thrashing in the air and trying to throw them off his tracks, while the spike was cracking from the projectiles.
Soon enough, the spike broke and the dragon let out a loud roar as the braces holding it in place fell off the dragon's body. Venti stopped holding the others up and just guided them to a strange structure in the sky with multiple platforms arranged in a circle. "Look out everyone. Even after years of disuse Dvalin's teeth and claws are still as deadly as ever." Right on cue, the dragon flew at them with its claws and fangs bared, ready to slice them to bits. Some Anemo infused arrows from Venti knocked it to the platform, stunning it in the process. Taking the cue, everyone jumps the dragon, attacking the spike with Anemo and Pyro elemental attacks. Unfortunately, the dragon woke up and shook its head, sending them to the ground, their fall cushioned by Venti who just floated down. Looking around, Lumine sees everyone getting ready for the fight ahead and Dvalin preparing to send a powerful attack at them. But the dragon was interrupted when a blue orb hit the dragon in the stomach, stunning it for a bit, which gave them another chance. A few seconds later, they were back to destroying the spike.
While the others were in the sky, fighting Dvalin, Naruto just sighed and took off his mask as he started to walk towards the tower. "And where do you think you're going Naruto?" The familiar voice stopped him in his tracks. Turning around, he was met by a blond-haired man with cobalt blue eyes. He was wearing a black suit and cape, and had half of his face covered by a kind of mask. "I thought you wanted to avoid confrontations with the dragon because it may force you to reveal your true powers."
"You know I can't stay still while others are risking their lives up there. Besides, the I promised Aether that I'll keep his sister safe. So yeah. I'm going to go there, even if I'd rather keep my origins a secret. By the way Dain, tell uncle Kaeya to keep an eye on the Lady. She might prove to be quite annoying to us later on."
Dainsleif gave a small laugh. "You talk like you cherish her and known her for a long time. Are you developing feelings for her?" He said smugly. He had to get back at him for the pranks after all.
Naruto deadpanned at both Dainsleif and the voice of his mother in his head asking about the same thing. "For the last time. I DO NOT HAVE FEELINGS FOR LUMINE!" This only caused Kushina and even Kurama to start laughing. Ignoring them, Naruto composed himself with a breath. "Anyway, we have a situation. I believe that the Lady will try to steal the Anemo gnosis and the bard will probably let it happen."
"Why do you think that?" Dainsleif asked the younger blond.
"Because that bard looked almost happy to hear that the fatui have been trying to acquire the Anemo god's power. I don't know how the dragon, or the puppet will react, but I can be almost sure that the bard will give up his. If the Lady does get the gnosis, we can rest easy with the thought that the heavenly principles won't keep an eye on Mondstadt."
"Hmm. That's a valid point, but won't that put Snezhnaya higher on the list?" Dainsleif questioned. "What are you thinking Sage?"
"Well, Twilight, if the heavenly principles have their sights set on that nation, then our operations in Mondstadt, might be a bit easier to carry out. The only threat to us will be my father and the knights, but some illusions here and misdirection there can take care of that. For now though, it's better to just try and protect the major players. I'll tell more during our monthly gathering tonight. Right now, I feel like the others need my help."
"Alright then. Good luck Sage. And tell the Captain I sent my regards." Dainsleif turned around and left through a portal. Even though Naruto was newer to the order than he was, the kid could make terrifying plans.
After watching Dain leave, Naruto turned towards the tower and looked up, pumping chakra into his eyes. The normal purple colour and pattern of the rinnegan gradually fade into a blood red near the center and 3 tomoe circling around the pupil. Ignoring the bleeding of his eyes, he looks up and spots the others on a structure suspended above the old tower. Teleporting to the tower, Naruto made a giant rasen-shuriken, aimed it at the dragon and sent it flying. Just before hitting its mark, the wind chakra surrounding it disappeared, leaving the rasengan to hit the dragon. Less than a minute later Naruto cut the extra chakra flow to his eyes and wiped off the blood, before putting the mask back on and disappearing in a yellow flash.
While the others were trying to break the spike, Diluc threw down the kunai Naruto had given him before joining the fray. They were making good progress on destroying the spike, but the dragon shook them off again. The extra force used this time sent them flying, but everyone except Lumine landed back on the platform. Just as the traveller was about to fall off compleatly, a hand grabbed hers and a familiar voice said, "Got' cha Lumine!" before she was pulled up by Naruto.
"How did you get up here?" Lumine asked the masked teen. They were very high in the air and she doubted that a simple wind current could have done the job.
"Wind glider and Anemo vision, though the glider was destroyed in the process." was all he said before dragging her towards the others. Just as they got close to the group, Dvalin let out a roar, and they felt a pressure pushing down on them. Looking at the platform, they saw that it was covered in blue cracks, and radiating a strange and poisonous energy.
"Look out! That's Dvalin's most powerful attack! We have to get to another platform quickly!" Venti summoned the wind and sent everyone into the air. While Jean, Diluc, Lumine Paimon and Venti landed on 1 platform, Naruto landed on the one opposite to them. Unfortunately for him, the dragon decided that Naruto would be an easy target to go for, and started flying at him with the intent to cut him to pieces
"Shinra Tensei!" a wave of gravity blasted the dragon back towards the others, but Dvalin wasn't known as the King of the Skies for nothing. He turned around and started gunning for Venti. "Banso Ten' in!" The dragon slowed down and the change in speed gave time for Jean and Diluc to launch two well placed Anemo and Pyro attacks, that knocked the dragon on to the platform. Seeing that the spike was almost broken, Lumine jumped up and, with a loud battle cry, brought down her sword on the remains of the device and destroyed it.
With a pained roar, Dvailn fell off the platform. "Dvalin!" Venti's pained cry was drowned out by the sound of the platforms shattering and falling. Before the bard could call out to the winds, their fall was broken by Dvalin. Venti, upon realising who saved them, crawled up to the dragon's neck and hugged his friend. "Dvalin! You're back!" The happiness lacing Venti's voice and the touching scene made everyone, including the stoic Diluc, smile. "It's been a long time since we flew like this, huh?"
"Barbatos. Just why.. why didn't you ask me to protect you like the last time?" Dvalin's voice lacked the malice and evil it had held earlier. Instead, it sounded like a gentle soothing rumble.
As the dragon effortlessly glided through the wind, Venti untangled his arms from around Dvalin's neck and sat up. "Just because I don't want you to obey the abyss order, doesn't mean I want you to obey me either. Afterall, freedom demanded by an archon, isn't freedom at all." With that, Venti conjured a ball of Anemo energy and sent it towards his friend.
Dvalin glowed with the power of Anemo as the last of Durin's power was purged from within him, changing the colour of his scales from a bright blue to a glowing light teal. "Is this the power of the Anemo archon? But I am no longer part of the Four Winds." Dvalin's words were laced with confusion.
"That may be true, but you still protected us all those years ago. Now go forth with my blessing, and spread your wings of freedom! I'll also try to visit you sometime." At his words, Dvalin spread his wings and began to fly towards Mondstadt to drop off his passengers
"Wait." Paimon's voice drew everyone's attention to her. "Where's Naruto?"
"Huh?" Confused, everyone looked around, only to see that the boy was not with them on the dragon. Looking back, the place where thy fought Dvalin was already destroyed.
Naruto was falling. Despite the height, he looked quite calm about it. Looking down, he saw the city of Mondstadt and the lake surrounding it. Steering himself away from it, he used the Deva path to slow down his fall and landed on the lake near Dawn winery. Casting his chameleon jutsu, he started walking towards Dragonspine. Their meeting was tonight afterall.
4770 words! Wo hoo!
Sorry for the slightly late update. It got pushed back because I uploaded the new story on my profile. Hopefully, this chapter didn't turn out wired or inconsistent. Also, Naruto is making full use of the Deva path here (almost). Now here's a question for you guys,
Should Naruto join Lumine on her journey?
I want to know your opinion because I could either write him in to the story as a major character in the background or a character in the spotlight with Lumine. Also the next chapter will contain some lore in the story. None of it is cannon in the actual game.
Anyways, hope you enjoyed! Please leave a review!